Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Harvest Festival

  Sun 29 Sep 2019 Mr J Howe

  Harvest Festival

  Once again, the school will be collecting food items for Harvest Festival in support of the local food bank in Sunderland. Parents, guardians and carers can donate food items by sending them into school, where they will be collected and taken to the hall, ready for harvest festival, with Rev Gareth Phillips, from Fulwell Methodist Church, on Thursday. Please note that the last day for donating Harvest Festival food items is Wednesday. We would like to thank all families in advance for your generosity. 

   

  Wild visitor

  Our school is often the home for all kinds of urban wildlife. We have had all sorts of birdlife, the odd deposit from our local foxes, but by far the most brazen visitor has to be our new (grey) squirrel. Each day he or she, scampers around the yard, into the pond area, while the children play nearby, as it scours for food. Clearly our squirrel needs a name. 

   

  50th Birthday

  Plans are underway for our open day on October 16th to mark our 50th birthday. The theme is a combination of the 1969 moon landings and Bob Man on the Moon, by Simon Bartram. Each class will be themed and we are organising slots to allow visitors to tour the school and see the children's work at first hand. As the week draws to a close, we will be drawing up a timetable for the community to visit us. Watch this space...

   

  Dismissal arrangements

  Hometime on the main yard can be a busy affair. To allow staff to dismiss children with a clear line of sight to parents and family members, we would ask that ALL adults wait in front of the bicycle shed in line with your child's class. Please avoid standing behind staff or to the right by the library windows. This is for the safeguarding of every child. Thank you.

   

  Daily Mile

  Every day our children spend ten to 15 minutes either running or walking around the track. What a fantastic impact this is having (thank you Mr Ashton) on children's fitness levels, social time and general activity. I have enjoyed spending this time, chatting and challenging children and they really are embracing this concept. Long may it continue.

   

  And finally....

  Don't forget there is a meeting for Y4 Kingswood Residential at 3.30pm on Wednesday.

• Well done Theo

  Tue 17 Sep 2019 Mr J Howe
  Fantastic fundraising from Y4 - Theo - who completed the Pretty Muddy Kids obstacle course to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Theo is well on his way to raising over £800 - together with mum. Great effort.

  

• Open House

  Sun 15 Sep 2019 Mr J Howe

  What a busy week we have ahead of us....

   

  On Tuesday our Y3 class are heading out to find out more about our food chain: from Farm to Fork - thanks to support from the Sir Tom Cowie Trust. It promises to be a wonderful day out and a memorable experience for Miss Bliss's class.

   

  On Thursday, our Foundation Stage Unit will throw its doors open for prospective parents - please see the attached poster and spread the word. We believe our children receive an excellent start to their lives in our school, nurtured, challenged and supported by staff who know them exceptionally well. For those, who haven't stepped inside our school, it's a wonderful opportunity to see how our children learn. 

   

  Gardeners Needed

  We are working on plans to develop our environment - both indoor and out, as we celebrate our 50th birthday, If you - or you know someone - with green fingers and willing to spare an hour a week or fortnight to volunteer and help us develop our outdoor space, please get in touch with Mrs Baker - in the school office - or myself on the school gate...

   

  Clubs 

  Lots of clubs are starting this week from gymnastics to karate. Look out for the opportunities and those we are offering around musical tuition this term.

   

  Attendance

  Yr 1 won our weekly attendance award and an extra 10 minutes play time this week with 98+% - well done, with Yr 6 close runners up. Every class from Y1 up, recorded attendance above our 96+% target. Well done, and staff too - 100%.

   

  Mug of chocolate

  Our Golden Book winners from last week (school value - kindness) will be invited to join me for a mug of hot chocolate at break time on Monday. I look forward to seeing you all...

   

   

   

  

• First Week Back

  Mon 09 Sep 2019 Mr J Howe

  A huge welcome back to the school year of 2019-2020: our 50th Anniversary Term. It was fantastic to see the children around school -  they all looked  so smart. I hope all our families and the children had a wonderful time during the summer making happy memories and spending some much needed down time together.

  We had another amazing successful and busy year and as we are determined (as captured in our school vision) to do even better. We very much look forward to leading the children in their learning this year and seeing their development grow once again -both academically and socially. They did incredibly well last year and I am truly proud of their positive attitudes, excellent behaviour and wonderful manners.

  There will be a letter coming home tonight, updating you on the new term, diary dates, clubs etc.

   

  Next week, teachers will complete their information for parents to provide you with an overview of the things we teach in the autumn term.  Some areas are changed due to the impact of the new national curriculum.  The national curriculum is set by government and is statutory for all children in community schools, like ours.

   

  I will provide you with advice around homework, also this week, so you know when to expect your child to bring work home.  Reading is a key part of school and life.  We promote 'Everybody, Every Night', which means your child should read at home to an adult five times per week and at least once on a weekend to ensure they make the greatest amount of progress in all areas.  Research suggests that by doing this children will have vastly superior outcomes/results/success than those who don't.

   

  NEW FAMILIES TO SEABURN DENE

  We would like to extend a particular welcome our new nursery and reception children and their families - and other families who have chosen to join us in Yrs 1 and 2... We promise to guide, nurture and teach your children to be the very best that they can be!

   

  OUR AIMS & PRIORITIES FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR

  "We always try be that little bit better..."– our growth mindset vision and kindness, one of our four school values, will be the overarching themes for the year and the children will be learning much about what this word means in terms of our relationships with friends, families, communities, countries and our place in the world as global citizens. We will use our other values- respect, determination and aspiration to guide the children.

   

  GREATER INDEPENDENT LEARNING

  We are once again on a mission to help all our children develop even greater strategies for being independent learners and to become more resilient as their learning becomes more challenging. Throughout their learning journey over the children’s 7 years, our ultimate aim is that children have greater and greater success for themselves, thus being truly proud of their own achievements and progress.

   

  ATTENDANCE

  Attendance is hugely important and we can only do this in partnership with you. We believe every school day counts and we know it does. We hate being ‘average’ so we have set the target of 96%-plus again this year. We will continue to present children children with 100% certificates and book vouchers at the end of each term, as well as rewarding those children with good attendance. Please be reassured that we will continue to work in partnership to support you and your child in attending school as much as possible.

   

  AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

  Look out for the letter detailing some of the after school clubs we will be providing this term. These include: rugby, football, gymnastics, Minecraft, reading, karate. We will be also offering musical tuition, which will be outlined on the same letter. But please return your letters to show interest so that I can sort the choices by the end of this week - some popular clubs will be limited by numbers.

   

  ALDI STICKERS

  We are taking part in the Aldi Kit for Schools until November 3. If you shop at Aldi, please bring in the stickers you will be collecting, to help us get the chance of winning £20,000 for school and a free sports kit. There will be a collection box in our reception area.

  
  IMPORTANT DATES.

   

  Wednesday 11th September – Reading Plus - Yrs 4,5 & 6.

  Week beginning 16th September - Clubs/music lessons start.

  Tuesday 17th September - Y3 Farm to Fork - visit to Farm.

  Thursday, 19th September - Reception and Early Years Open day.

  Friday, 4th October - Nasal flu spray immunisations.

  Thursday, 10th October - Yr 4 class assembly 2.45pm.

  Wednesday, 16th October - 5oth Anniversary open day - all day. Times to follow.

  Tuesday, 22nd October -Newcastle Eagles - Yr 5/6.

  Week beginning 28th October - HALF-TERM

  Tuesday, 19th November - Parent's Evening.

  Thursday, 14th November - Y3 Class Assembly.

  Wednesday, 20th November - Non-uniform day - chocolate tombola.

  Thursday, 21st November - Parent's Evening

  Thursday, 28th November - Christmas Fayre - 3.30pm - 5.30pm.

  Thursday, 5th December - Whole school Carol Concert at Fulwell Methodist Church - 10.30am./

  Tuesday, 10th December - Yr 1/2 Nativity.

  Wednesday, 11th December - Christmas jumper/Christmas meal.

  Thursday, 12th December - Evening with Santa - 5.30pm - 8pm.

  Week beginning 16th Decemer - Christmas parties.

  Tuesday, 17th December - Yr 1/2 party.

  Wednesday, 18th December - Yr 3/4 party.

  Thursday, 19th December - Yr 5/6 party.

  Friday, 20th December - School breaks up.

   

  There will of course be more dates and information sent to you via school comms so please keep us up to date with any email changes.v We try to not change too much as we are aware of the implications for you as families. Be rest assured that throughout the year, the children will experience a great range of learning and teaching opportunities. We have lots of exciting things booked and planned for the forthcoming year.